Traditionally there are three general classes of drywall texture sprayers; hand-held manually powered units, air compressor powered units and motorized units which may have a mechanical mixing tank.
Hand-held units that are manually operated consist of a hand-pumped air piston, a body and a material holding tank. The user manually operates the hand pump to create a compressed air flow. The material may be supplied by gravity or by suction from the air flow. One major drawback is the awkwardness and weight of the device when held at arm's length while vigorously pumping the manual air pump. This device is similar to the hand-pumped bug sprayers. Devices of this class are limited to small patches and the like and are not practical for larger jobs. The advantage is that they can be used where there is no electricity or air supply.
Hand-held units that use compressed air are commonly referred to as hoppers. Hoppers hold a supply of fluid drywall texture. Most hoppers consist of two basic parts: the hopper and a gun-like element below the hopper that has a trigger to run the flow of material on and off. There may also be a control valve for the compressed air flow. Such texture hoppers become heavy when filled with fluid texture. The users of such hoppers commonly are covered with over-spray since the hopper is held overhead when in use. A further drawback is that the supersonic air flow created as the air jet generates a vibration that separates texture into the component parts by a way of a liquefaction effect. When stratification of the material occurs, the granular material sinks to the bottom of the hopper where it packs the gun and clogs the spray orifice. Hoppers are prone to break and need repair due to mechanical elements that wear and are glued together by dry texture when the hopper is not cleaned properly. While some recent hopper sprayers have legs on them, the bulk of hand-held hoppers will not stand upright on the ground for filling without risk of falling over.
Motorized drywall texture spray units generally consist of a motorized fluid pump which feeds the fluid texture material through a hose to a remote gun for easy application and an air compressor to atomize the material at the gun. Some smaller motorized units are built into a dolly for use in elevators and highrise buildings, while the larger motorized units are built into the frames of dedicated trucks or manufactured as trailers. Some smaller motorized rigs and all of the larger units have a mixing tank or two as part of the assembly. These units allow a person to spray texture while holding a gun at arms length which is not so laborious or messy. The disadvantage of motorized texture spray devices is the complexity, size and cost.